My dog Roxy has been developing a rash. I adopted her just under 3 months ago. She came from a farm in Alberta. The rash started developing not too long after that. It started on her chest and armpit area, and is now all over her body. The rash is very itchy, and her skin is flaky on each "blemish". Some blemishes are a bit crusty (symptom or from scratching I'm not sure). Roxy has also had a few episodes in the last week or so of excessive drooling...watery drool, not slimy. It will just drip, drip, drip from the corners of her mouth and make puddles. She has also had a day here and there of liquid diarrhea, but not chronic.

Roxy's little buddy Peewee was treated with antibiotics for a bacterial infection of his intestine about a month ago. Roxy didn't seem to catch that at the time, but maybe this is related?

Roxy is up to date on her vaccinations, has been in contact with "strange" dogs, goes to dog park, etc. She has also changed food from Iams and a rice & hamburger based homemade food to Orijen (and this month now Acana...not grain-free). Someone suggested to me that Roxy could be detoxing off the old food causing the rash. I am considering switching back to Iams just to see if the rash diminishes. She isn't scratching herself, but will fall over in enjoyment if I give her scratches.

I would like to try an antihistamine for a few days or a week to see if it is an allergic reaction or something else and then go from there. Before I do that, I would like some input. Does anyone know dosage and how long I can treat her for? I would like to treat her for a week, or maybe improvement would show up sooner?

Here are some photos...the dark ones show how her hair is raised where the blemishes are, and the light photos show the rash on her chest where it is easily visible. The last photo shows the scaly skin.

When you see the photos without the background history I just gave, what's your first reaction? Does the history make you think something else? I ask the different questions because so much has changed in Roxy's life that it is hard to pinpoint things. Food? Grass? Laundry detergent? Parasite? ???

I second the "allergic" reaction to something.
I've seen several different versions of allergic rash/reactions.
It could be somethign complicated like "food" issues, or it could simply be the laundry detergent on her bed, or your own clothes (i assume you snuggle and hug your new pup..lol).
usually (although not always) if its under the skin (red dots , that dissapear when you push on them) its usually an "internal" agent (something ingested, or gone INTO the body in some way).
If the bumps are raised, and or on the OUTER layer or skin (and the redness does not dissapear when you press on them) its an outside agent (something she's come in contact with or laid on, or has sprayed onto her...ect.

This is not always true...there are a few acceptions. But that is the general rule of thumb I've been told.

From what I'm seeing on the photos, you have more of a "contact" issue than an "ingested" issue.

Try to contact her old owner and find out if she's ever had this before.
And then ask her what all she "used' on her.
Start listing ALL the changes you've made. (shampoo, flea meds, any kind of spray, laundry detergent, even a humans perfume can set her skin off if she's snuggled and such alot).

Ruby once had an attrocious looking rash on her belly, and I was racking my brain on HOW , WHAT ..ect. Then I realised...I'd used a "different" solution to clean the carpet than I usually do. I carpet cleaned it all out with several doses of hot water...and gave her benedryl. She cleared right up. She also will sneeze her head off, if I use a paticular carpet powder or spray fabreeze. I have to put her outside to spray the fabreeze and keep her OUT of the room that has the carpet powder (resolve moist powder stuff).

If you ask her previous owner about all her "things" she used. And then compare it to the list of yours. It will give you a good starting point. And if nothing else..you can give the list to your vet..and they can tick off the "highly unlikelys" and at least give you a good shove in the right direction.

GOOD LUCK. I know its frustrating to be so HAPPY they are there, and WHAM...health issues.

Some ideas: I use Tide Free & Clear detergent and Seventh Generation "Natural" Fabric Softener with Eucalyptus and Lavender Essential Oils. She lays on wool blankets which are on memory foam. I haven't shampooed the carpets since last fall. She loves to lay on the lawn. I spray around the house including dog beds once or twice a week Rocky Mountain Soap Company Home Refresh Mist in Ylang Ylang scent "100% natural". I have bathed her 3 times with Earth Bath Mango Tango, but she hasn't been bathed in at least 2 weeks now.

The only things that Roxy is in heavy contact with daily are her beds and the lawn. She doesn't really lay on the carpets. As the weather is colder she is laying on her beds more now rather than being outside all day. The one she lays on the most isn't wool, but she just started sleeping on wool at night about 2 weeks ago. I will see what the vet says, but maybe I will try removing the wool.

I hope it isn't her food because I have been sticking to Champion Foods with her, and just ordered 3-30lb bags of Acana Wild Prairie grain-free. If it is the food then switching between the different Champion foods is probably not going to solve the issue. I switched away from Orijen in search of a lower protein diet. I tried the Acana Adult for one bag, and decided I am not comfortable feeding grains. Roxy got a lot worse in this time, but there were other things (like more wool) going on too. Roxy also gets 2500mg Wild Salmon Oil daily, and a dollop of plain yogurt. She gets Tripett for a week here and there which is how long it takes to go through a can.

If they didnt go away when you pushed < i'm almost 100 % positive its something she has come in contact with. (and not injested or had enter her body)
Also...just because a product is "all natural" dosent meant they cant have a allergic reaction to it. (learned that the hard way).
Didnt mean that in a know it all...smart aleck way > (sorry if it read that way).
As to the detergent... even though its free and clear..its possible there is "some sort of agent" she is having a reaction to...or the fabric softner.

No telling. I'd just eliminate possible suspects , until you find what it is.
But again..I'm no expert..and It could totally be something else alltogether.
For your sake (and hers...I hope that she isnt the few pups that has what looks to be a external reaction, but its actually an internal agent aka food or what not) all that swithcing does tend to get EXPENSIVE.

Crossing fingers you and vet figure it out soon, and get poor icthy some relieve.

No, not smart aleck...I know what you mean. I just wanted you all to know I wasn't using harsh chemical sprays and detergents. I hope it is the bedding/detergent...that would be easiest to change!

The vet talked about using Cortisone for allergic issues (which I'm not interested in at this point), and suggested that Benedryl used on dogs may help her feel better, but does little to calm allergic reactions. He also talked about parasites like Mange and other things she might have picked up in her farm life. Although Roxy showed up with no signs, it was only a couple days before I noticed the rash starting.

Couple of questions for you. How old is your dog? Is she chewing her feet? Scratching her ears? Are her eyes watery? Did she by chance just get vaccinated? One suggestion from a vet was to rinse my dog with clear water every night to get the "allergens" off. You could try the Acana lamb and apple (it's a different protein) chicken is the first on the list for allergies. My dog showed signs at 6 mths of age and it has never been resolved. She's better though. Benedryl never worked, steriods did (use at last resort) Atopica made her very sick. Yes I would remove the wool for sure. Oh and I got this spray "dermacool" which gave her some instant relief.

Roxy is 6 1/2. Not chewing her feet. Her ears are cropped (I didn't do it!). She isn't scratching or chewing anywhere, but is obviously very itchy as even a light touch makes her go into "please give me scratches" mode. Her eyes aren't watery, but they do get "eye boogers" a little more than the average dog I would say. She was vaccinated in March 2011.

I don't think chicken would be an allergen as she was eating Iams MiniChunks (green bag) when I got her. Here are the lovely ingredients:

I took Roxy's wool beds away from her lastnight and gave her cotton to sleep on. Her rash is much better today! So I cancelled the Vet appointment, although she is still visiting the Vet Tech to get her anal glands drained.

I have my fingers crossed that this is the problem and not a coincidence!

I believe food allergies can come at anytime. However seeing that she's 6 is a lot better than 6 mths. The fact that she isn't chewing herself is great too. Sounds like a contact reaction, you could try the benedryl, ask your vet tech the dose. I hope it gets solved.

Yes benedryl is NOT the solve all. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it dosent. For ruby...it worked. But I have another "itcher" and we've never found what he's reacting to...and have had to go the cortizone way a few times. Although right now he's cleared up. It seems to only happen in summer .

The Vet Tech wouldn't give me a dose for Benedryl...said a Vet would have to look at her. Oh well, Roxy seems much better now and the Vet Tech didn't seem worried about what is left of the rash. I will give it a couple of days sans wool and see how she does.

Ok, well I don't think the wool is the problem. I gave both dogs a bath yesterday and washed their beds. Roxy's rash is no worse today, but I'm going to figure out a different laundry soap anyway. Would plain washing soda be a good option?

I'm pretty sure the wool was not the answer. The doesn't appear to be much (if any) improvement. She doesn't appear "bumpy" all over her body now, but has a lot of flaky, thick feeling skin that feels warm and moist to the touch.

I am wondering a bit about it being a minor mange infestation. She doesn't have any bald spots, but her fur is thin on her chest, and she is losing a lot of hair. She has moist flaky skin near the edges of her ear canal (like the side of her head). Her ears are cropped really short so she wouldn't have the tell tale crusty mange ears. The little ear tips that she does have don't seem to be affected. I'm looking at pics on Google, and some of them look similar...the blemishes do at least. She also has stinky, greasy, wet dog smell just a day or two after she's bathed where I would expect her to smell nice for a week or so after a bath. She smells like she hasn't been bathed in a year.

The bacterial infections are usually caused by bacteria that are part of the normal flora of the skin (e.g. Staphylococcus intermedius). For this reason the infection is not contagious to other animals. In dogs that have abnormal skin (e.g. allergies) the bacteria increase in number and cause red bumps (papules) and rancid odor. Some dogs with bacterial skin infections also develop excessive shedding, patchy hair loss and scaling.

Ok so it seems like Seborrhea is more of a symptom than a disease, or at least a condition whose onset is triggered by something else (like allergies or hypothyroidism, etc). It does sound pretty darn close though. Roxy is actually scratching herself now.

Ok so it seems like Seborrhea is more of a symptom than a disease, or at least a condition whose onset is triggered by something else (like allergies or hypothyroidism, etc). It does sound pretty darn close though. Roxy is actually scratching herself now.

I booked a vet appointment for Saturday.

Well, its saturday...so how did it go??? it was something simple and shes already on the mend!

So in the 4 days waiting for the vet appointment the rash got waaaaaay worse. The worst areas have quite a bit of thinning hair, lots of red flaky skin pretty much all over but the worst places are between her front legs, the front/side of her rib cage, ears, and around the backside of her thighs. A few of the blemishes are gooey crusty (like minor infection starting).

The difference is that she has been kenneled during the day (for 4-6 hours), so maybe laying on her irritated skin is bothering her. Maybe it needs to be able to air out. Not sure...but it's a lot worse now.

The vet did skin scrapings and couldn't find any parasites, nor any fungi, abnormal bacteria, yeast or anything like that. So we are treating for sarcoptic mange as it is difficult to confirm via scrapings. We are using Revolution drops for her and Peewee (he has no symptoms as this point). We would like to use Ivermectin, but I am not sure of Roxy's history so we are worried a bit about heartworm (not likely, but why risk it?). Seeing as there isn't heartworm in this area the blood has to be sent out for heartworm testing, so we decided to just go the safe route with Revolution. Revolution isn't as effective for sarcoptic mange as Ivermectin, but if this is the problem we should be able to see a difference at which point we can do the blood test and switch to Ivermectin if the assumed mange needs a good kick in the butt. Revolution on its own might do the trick. Roxy is getting a daily dose of oral Cephalexin (antibiotics) 2x500 mg to prevent a serious infection of the blemishes which could occur seeing as the blemishes are covering so much of her body. Roxy is also getting a once a week bath in Hexadene shampoo which should be fairly effective against mange, and is also a general antiseptic, antifugal, and antibacterial shampoo.

The vet is not suspecting allergies at this point. She thinks that these treatments are a good place to start. I agree. She laughed when I told her I already did skin scrapings (I have a microscope) and didn't find anything.

So...pill the dog, bath the dog, and add drops to her neck. Should be fun...

Well, good to know your vet is not suspecting allergies. As that is more difficult to treat than the mange. Although mange is a pain in the arse to deal with too..its at least more easily managed I think. Maybe the lesser of two evils I suppose.
It sure looked like an allergic reaction to me...in the pics...but...you never can tell. I'm not a vet..and I've never claimed to be. LOL
You did your OWN skin scraping? Now THAT is devotion !

I would much rather deal with mange than allergies, I agree - the lesser of the evils for sure. Pictures never tell the whole story, and I can see why anyone would guess allergies. It very well could be...we are just at the beginning right now. Yes, I did my own scrapings...I had to wait for the appointment and I got impatient and looked myself. Hehe

Oh, and thanks for asking how it went...I was posting when you posted that!

I would much rather deal with mange than allergies, I agree - the lesser of the evils for sure. Pictures never tell the whole story, and I can see why anyone would guess allergies. It very well could be...we are just at the beginning right now. Yes, I did my own scrapings...I had to wait for the appointment and I got impatient and looked myself. Hehe

Oh, and thanks for asking how it went...I was posting when you posted that!

Well should the fur be on the other paw,I'm sure you'd ask as well. So..

Roxy puked about 1-2 hours after I gave her the antibiotic pills. It may have been because she was excited from DH coming home (he is gone for a couple weeks at a time so when he comes home everyone is excited). I couldn't see the pills, but I could see the weiner I use to hide the pills. Try again tomorrow.

I wish I would have taken pictures of the rash when it was at its worst, but I forgot.

However, the rash is almost gone. The redness is gone. The crusties are still there, but I think it will just take some time for the new skin to grow in. She has one foot where the pads were hot, red, and swollen a couple days ago, but that is improved as well although not gone completely. I will finish off the antibiotics and give her another Hexadene bath on Saturday. Peewee still seems fine.

Pls keep us posted. I went through and still going through a similar road with my boston terrier. I have been home cooking for over 3 months with no success again. It will be interesting to see what happens after the antibiotics are finished.